Brandon Harris stoked to have Cam Cameron on sidelines

BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU quarterback Brandon Harris is, it would seem, more of a hands-on learner. Thus the junior is pretty excited that offensive coordinator Cam Cameron is moving from the press box to the sidelines this season after a successful experiment doing so in the Tigers’ 56-27 Texas Bowl win over Texas Tech.

“With him being on the sideline and being able to communicate with me and to be able to look into his eyes to see if we’re on the same page, it’s important as a quarterback,” Harris said on Wednesday.

In fact, it was Harris himself who went to Miles to suggest the move be made permanent after the bowl game.

“I went to Coach Miles and suggested it,” Harris said. “Obviously, it’s well-documented that Coach Cameron went through some health issues last year and health-wise he had to be up there. Calling from the sidelines is something he did in the NFL a long time, and it worked out perfectly.”

Cameron was the San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator from 2002-06 before being hired by the Dolphins as their head coach in 2007. He also served as the Redskins quarterbacks coach from 1994-96.

As Harris alluded to, Cameron was upstairs last season after dealing with offseason treatment for prostate cancer.

With Cameron on the sidelines, Harris expects games to feel more like practice, at least from a logistical standpoint.

“In practice, he’s always called it from the sidelines, or he’ll be up close so I can just walk up and talk to him,” Harris said. “It’s just important to me that Cam and I are on the sideline and on the same page as far as seeing things in coverage or a front that a quarterback coach and a quarterback would want to talk about.”

Since Cameron doubles down as LSU’s quarterback’s coach, it increases the importance of personal interaction from Harris’ point of view.

“In the NFL they have a quarterbacks coach and an offensive coordinator,” Harris said. “Here we have an offensive coordinator who wears that title.”

One thing is certain: when Cameron speaks, Harris listens.

“Cam is a guy who I idolize,” Harris said. “It’s just like having my dad here.”